The 1953 24 Heures de Spa Francorchamps took place on 25 and 26 July 1953, at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, (Belgium). It was also the fourth round of the FIA World Sports Car Championship. This was the first time the event had taken place since Luigi Chinetti and Jean Lucas won in 1949. The race was not run again until 1964.[1]
Although the 1953 season places two 24 hour races in two months would not be an easy maneuver. But, Spa is a favourite amongst the drivers and teams, therefore, the event would be a popular one, not to be missed by the top teams and their star drivers[2]
A grand total 43 racing cars were registered for this event, of which 40 arrived for practise and qualifying. From Italy, the two work teams of Scuderia Ferrari and S. P. A. Alfa Romeo. The Scuderia from Maranello arrived with three cars, all 375 MM's. In the cockpits sat the driver pairings, Giuseppe Farina / Mike Hawthorn, Luigi Villoresi / Alberto Ascari and Umberto Maglioli with Piero Carini . Alfa Romeo brought two cars to Belgium, which went into different classes at the start. Juan Manuel Fangio and Consalvo Sanesi piloted an Alfa Romeo 6C 3000 CM in the sports car category. Max Thirion, together with Mario Damonte were entered in an Alfa Romeo 1900 in the touring car class.[3] The host country was represented by the Ecurie Francorchamps, which entered a Jaguar C-Type and a Ferrari 212 Export.[3]
The Ferrari 375 MM of Mike Hawthorn took pole position, averaging a speed of 113.871 mph around the 8.77 mile circuit. However, following an accident in practise, the Fiat 1100 of “Thillios” and Johnny Claes was withdrawn, leaving 39 cars to start.[1] [3]
The day of the race would be warm and dry, but that would mean very little as the team prepared for the start at 4pm. As the field took off, it wouldn't be long before the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps would prove to be a greater threat, even to the best teams and drivers in the race.[2]
A number of privateers entries would fall out of contention early into the race, but then, the factory efforts and the bigger privateers began to run into trouble. Roger Laurent and Jacques Swaters would retire their C-Type with a blown engine. Fangio and Sanesi would be out following an accident in their Alfa Romeo 6C. The Ferrari pairing of Maglioli and Carini would be amongst the casualties with value troubles. It did not get any easier for the top drivers as even Ascari and Villoresi would retire with clutch failure.[2] [4]
Although two of the three works Ferraris had retired during the race, Scuderia victory was never seriously threatened. After Fangio/Sanesi accident after only 22 laps, the Ferrari was without any close competition. Farina and Hawthorn would remain in the lead throughout the whole race, even when the rain came late on in the race. At the finish, Farina and Hawthorn had an 18 lap advantage over the Jaguar C-Type of the Scottish Ecurie Ecosse. In the end, the Ferrari margin of victory amounted to about an advantage of close to 90 minutes over James Scott Douglas and Guy Gale. A Belgian-entered Jaguar C-Type of Herman Roosdorp and Toni Ulmen was a further eleven laps down and finished third. In the touring car class, the Portuguese driver Viegas Vellagao and his Belgian co-driver, Vladimir Narichkine were victorious in their Mercedes-Benz 220. However, although they were fifth overall, they were 68 laps behind the winning Ferrari. The winning partnership, won in a time of 24hr 02:07.085mins., averaging a speed of 94.910 mph. They covered a distance of 2,281.182 miles.[2] [3] [5] [6]
Class Winners are in Bold text.
| Pos | No | Class | Driver | Entrant | Chassis | Laps | Reason Out | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 8 | S |  Giuseppe Farina |  Mike Hawthorn | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 375 MM | 260 | ||
| 2nd | 19 | S | James Scott Douglas | Guy Gale | Ecurie Ecosse | Jaguar C-Type | 242 | ||
| 3rd | 18 | S |  Herman Roosdorp |  Toni Ulmen | Herman Roosdorp | Jaguar C-Type | 231 | ||
| DNF | 6 | S | Luigi Villoresi | Alberto Ascari | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 375 MM | 216 | Clutch | |
| 4th | 32 | S |  Marc Gignoux | Claude Storez | Deutsch et Bonnet | D.B. HBR Panhard | 211 | ||
| 5th | 38 | T |  Viegas Vallagao | Vladimir Narichkine | Mercedes-Benz 220 | 192 | |||
| 6th | 51 | T | Marcel Lauga | G. Averseng | Simca Aronde | 191 | |||
| 7th | 49 | T | Luc Mahy | Jean-Pierre de Nauville | Peugeot 203 | 189 | |||
| 8th | 44 | T | André Pilette | Jacques de Wetter | Borgward Hansa 1800 | 188 | |||
| 9th | 57 | T | Roger Meunier | Guy Sanders | Panhard Dyna | 187 | |||
| 10th | 34 | S | René Philippe Faure | Pierre Quetelart | Deutsch et Bonnet | D.B. HBR Panhard | 186 | ||
| 11th | 33 | S | Reggie Bovens | Roger Giraud | Automobiles Panhard et Levassor | Panhard X85 | 184 | ||
| 12th | 48 | T | Télesphore George | Fernand George | Peugeot 203 | 184 | |||
| 13th | 62 | S | René Cotton | Fernand Sigrand | Panhard Dyna | 180 | |||
| 14th | 53 | T | Pauwels | André Milhoux | Fiat 1100 | 176 | |||
| 15th | 55 | T | Robert Reip | Louis Richard | Fiat 1100 | 176 | |||
| 16th | 54 | T | Gilberte Thirion | Annie Bousquet | Fiat 1100 | 175 | |||
| 17th | 43 | T | Pierre Slosse | Georges Berger | Borgward Hansa 1800 | 157 | |||
| 18th | 52 | T | Pierre Stasse | Walter Deutsch | Fiat 1100 | 138 | |||
| NC | 61 | T | Raymond Meignen | Jacques Blanchet | Panhard Dyna | 125 | |||
| DNF | 20 | S | Tom Meyes | Philip Fotheringham-Parker | Tom Meyer | Aston Martin DB3 Coupé | 81 | Clutch | |
| DNF | 15 | S |  Juan Manuel Fangio | Consalvo Sanesi | SpA Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo 6C 3000 CM | 22 | Accident | |
| DNF | 4 | S | C. Nias | A. Brancart | Talbot Oblin | DNF | |||
| DNF | 9 | S | Umberto Maglioli | Piero Carini | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 375 MM | Value | ||
| DNF | 17 | S | Roger Laurent | Jacques Swaters | Ecurie Francorchamps | Jaguar C-Type | Engine | ||
| DNF | 22 | S | Charles de Tornaco |  Onore Wagner | Ecurie Francorchamps | Ferrari 212 Export | Engine | ||
| DNF | 24 | S | Jean Ampoulié | Jacques Gergaud | Ford Siam Special | Engine | |||
| DISQ | 26 | S | Elyane Imbert | Simone des Forest | Porsche 356 1500 Super | Disqualified | |||
| DNF | 29 | S | Paul Frère | Walter Hampel | Porsche 356 | Gearbox | |||
| DNF | 35 | S | Georges Guyot | “Reverse” | Deutsch et Bonnet | D.B. HBR Panhard | Accident | ||
| DNF | 36 | S | Louis Pons | Jean Rédélé | R.N.U. Renault | Renault 4CV/1063 | Engine | ||
| DNF | 40 | T | “Radrizzi” | “Tissot” | Fiat 1900 | DNF | |||
| DNF | 41 | T | Max Thirion | Mario Damonte | SpA Alfa Romeo | Electrics | |||
| DNF | 43 | T | Boy Laloux | Georges Berger | Borgward Hansa 1800 | Accident | |||
| DNF | 46 | T | Barry Leavens | Joyce Leavens | Jowett Javelin | Accident | |||
| DISQ | 50 | T | “Eldé” | Claude Collard | Peugeot 203 | Outside Assistance;Lost Wheel | |||
| DNF | 58 | T | Roland du Roy de Blicky | Olivier Gendebien | Panhard Dyna | DNF | |||
| DNF | 59 | T | Gert Welter | “Renant” | Panhard Dyna | Accident | |||
| DNF | 60 | T | “de la Bourdonnaye” | “Vandenberg” | Panhard Dyna | DNF | |||
| DNS | T | “Thillios” | Johnny Claes | Fiat 1100 | Accident | ||||
| Class | Winners | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sports | 8 | Ferrari 375 MM | Farina / Hawthorn | |
| Touring | 38 | Mercedes-Benz 220 | Vallagao / Narichkine |
| Pos | Championship | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ferrari | 19 |
| 2 | Jaguar | 18 |
| 3 |  Cunningham | 12 |
| 4 | Aston Martin | 8 |
| 5 | Alfa Romeo | 6 |
Championship points were awarded for the first six places in each race in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1. Manufacturers were only awarded points for their highest finishing car with no points awarded for positions filled by additional cars. Only the best 4 results out of the 7 races could be retained by each manufacturer. Points earned but not counted towards the championship totals are listed within brackets in the above table.